Monday, 25 November 2013

Music Magazine Research: Sales Reports and Background Research

Sales Reports 

Top of the Pops : 78,352 - % change y/y: -20.1 - Sold copies: 78,352
Kerrang! : 40,203 - % change y/y: -6.6 - Sold copies: 39,950
We Love Pop Magazine : 50,505 - % change y/y: - Sold copies: 50,505
Q : 64,596 - % change y/y: -19.7 - Sold copies: 63,812
New Musical Express : 23,924 - % change y/y: -17.6 - Sold copies: 23,898


I researched some figures about the sales of some popular magazines. From this I wanted to achieve where there would be a gap in the market or what magazine style would be successful in the industry to give me ideas of what to do and what not to do. 

From the research that I have conducted I can clearly see that NME magazine isn't doing well on the market. From my ABC source it is clear that their sales have decreased majorly which is then supported by the above research (sales reports) which show a minus percentage change as well as a considerably low amount of sold copies in comparison to the other magazines mentioned as NME has got the least amount of sales. From further research that I have conducted, an article from the guardian also states that NME and Q have both suffered sales declines by almost 20%, this suggests that it is similar for the genre and style of magazine they are, and that this genre is declining, from the sales reports figures above I can see from the sales the magazines such as Kerrang!, Q and NME sell considerably less copies than pop magazines which are shown. Also from the ABC sourced image there is a lot of negative change within the similar kind of genre aimed magazine. 
On the other hand pop magazines like We Love Pop and Top of the Pops have sold quite a lot of copies, especially top of the pops which has sold the most copies, this suggests to me that this is a popular market therefore one I should probably consider when deciding the genre of the magazine that I am going to make. In comparison to what I have just stated though, magazines of an alternative/rock genre are really popular as there are a lot on the market (ABC Source) and the change in sales only happens in some magazines therefore with a spin on the magazines there is most likely a market for this kind of magazine as long as it's done well.

"The Source also converted and consolidated a previous Chapter 7 filing in Friday's court proceedings and listed assets of about $1.3 million and liabilities of $35 million according to sources. 

Founders Dave Mays and Ray Benzino were ousted from the company in 2006, when sluggish newsstand sales and lost ad revenue prompted a need for a change.

One of the company's biggest financial issues prompting change in management was The Source defaulting on an $18 million loan from Textron Financial Partners.

According to the bankruptcy filing, The Source stopped sending magazines to 140,000 subscribers and magazine subscriptions have dropped by more than 50% since 2002."


There isn't that many sales reports on rap and hip hop magazines however I did manage to find out a bit about The source which is a hip hop music magazine is one that is declining in sales too, the article above suggests that it has struggled with profits which is most likely because it isn't selling well enough, it also suggests that the popularity has decreased from the subscriptions which implies that this magazine is doing really badly in terms of sales, I can't really link this completely to the genre of music however because I have nothing else to compare it to of the same genre, although I will have to consider it is probably either because of the genre it is linking to or the magazine isn't appealing to the audience anymore.

In terms of the actual music, unrelated to magazines, pop would definitely be considered the most popular because of the fact it in fact means popular therefore a wider audience listen to this genre of music as it is always in the charts across the world therefore to base a magazine on it would be ideal to appeal to a wider audience. However alternative and rock music is becoming increasingly popular and getting into the charts therefore will also have to be something to consider. Chart music often consists of  pop, alternative and rnb therefore these will be the three music types I want to look at in more detail because they are clearly the ones who appeal to a wider audience. 

This is an example of what I am talking about as the charts now consist of indie/rock, rap/rnb and pop.

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